Four best places to live if you're an LSE student

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LSE (London School of Economics and Political Science) is in the centre of London and slap bang in the middle of, well basically everything that’s happening in London! Museums to the left, libraries to the right, LSE is surrounded by culture and things to do, that’s if you’re not knee deep in course books and drowning in a sea of post-it notes, burning the candle at both ends! If you're lucky enough to be an LSE student, LSE has its own Private Accommodation Office where you can find housing advice and is a great first port of call. Until then we hope this blog will point you in the right direction.

As a rule of thumb, the closer you are to Central London, the more expensive it costs. Moving away from the centre it gets cheaper, and due to the location of LSE, if you look south of the Thames you immediately find a drop in property prices. Here we’ll look at three places where you’ll get more for your money south of the river, and one outlandish, north of the river area. A couple of things you want to keep in mind when finding somewhere to live are; bus and underground times.

Dulwich

Dulwich is mostly part of the London borough of Southwark but it also falls in to part of Lambeth. The only thing dull in Dulwich is the first syllable of its name, the town has history and culture a plenty, it also boasts one of the very few genuine villages in London. To add to its picturesque quaintness it has a lovely green open area; Dulwich park, where you can feed the ducks, row, play tennis or take your horse through the bridleway and then stop for a bite to eat at the café. Lovely jubbly! Dulwich has so much going for it we could write about it all day, but we won’t, as the rest of this blog won’t write itself! Dulwich is within five miles of LSE and a short bus journey away, leaving thirty minutes before you need to be in class should give you ample time. Rooms in shared property starts at £500 pcm, small studio flats will cost you at least £650 while beautifully presented modern flats in what is a beautiful area can be found for as little as £850 pcm.

Camberwell

Another town in the beautiful borough of Southwark is Camberwell, it is served excellently by bus services that should see you get to LSE within twenty minutes. The area is rich with art galleries, culture, history and theatres. It has a strong connection with the past, particularly creative types including artists, writers and thespians. This history mixed with Georgian, Victorian and modern flats gives the area a real artsy, traditional feel and the town holds some of the most plush Georgian property you’ll see in south London. Head north of the river and you’ll find property of a similar ilk for A LOT more money! The prices are similar to Dulwich for flats and studio flats, modern flats in converted Victorian and Georgian properties will set you back £950 pcm.

Elephant and Castle

An area many have turned their nose up to in the past and has fallen victim to postcode snobbery is Elephant and Castle, but that’s all change now thanks to a multi-billion pound rejuvenation project in its vicinity. It’s a great place to shop and has some great, if slightly more expensive properties available for rent. It’s a simple twenty three minute journey on the underground, using the Northern and Central lines. Nicely presented studios will cost you £800 pcm and really REALLY nice well-sized, modern property will cost around the £1000 pcm mark.

Covent Garden

Finally, north of the Thames and in the centre of the city is our slightly more expensive, wild-card suggestion for those who want to be closer to central London and have the “dinero” to do so! Once you get past the hundreds and hundreds of offices available on the property websites you’ll begin to stumble across beautiful, modern, amazing looking one bedroomed flats that will cost a cool £1400 pcm. Covent Garden is famous for its markets, street entertainers and beautiful pubs and cafes where the influence from the West End is easy to see. If you don't mind tripping over tourists, especially on weekends (Covent Garden is a tourist Mecca - but if you're only in London for three years, why not?). At just a ten minute walk from LSE, if you can afford it, Covent Garden is a great choice!

Are you thinking about studying at LSE or even a student already studying and have something to say about where to and where not to live? Movebubble would love to hear your stories and opinions.